EDMONTON - A real race for mayor. Several open council seats. Copious frustration with potholes, transit and drainage.

The recipe seemed right for a big rush to the polls in Monday’s civic election, yet only one-third of Edmontonians cast ballots.

The voter turnout of 34.5 per cent (213,585 people) was just a tick above the 2010 election and on par with the average from the past five, leaving some observers to wonder what else can be done to boost the numbers.

While the 2013 race lacked a major polarizing issue such as the City Centre Airport redevelopment, that doesn’t by itself explain why 65 per cent of eligible voters stayed home, MacEwan University political scientist Chaldeans Mensah said.

“The turnout is disappointing, and the message it conveys is one of apathy and an apparent lack of concern about the direction the city charts in the coming years,” Mensah said Tuesday. “There is an unacceptable long-term disengagement from municipal politics.”

The lacklustre turnout came despite some encouraging signs, including a pair of Journal polls that suggested a much higher number of people planned to cast a ballot. There was also a 15-per-cent boost in traffic at advance polling stations, though this could be explained by the city’s move to offer longer hours and more opportunities to vote prior to election day.

David Edey, the city’s general manager of corporate services, said it is difficult for the city to control whether residents feel compelled to cast a ballot, so the election officials instead tend to focus on ensuring everyone understands the voting process.

“The (turnout) numbers mean very little as much as making sure people know they have the right to vote, that they know where to vote and who’s on the ballot.”

Edey said he believes the city accomplished that goal as there were few complaints about the process.

Besides providing more opportunities for advancing voting, Edey said the city also mailed vote cards to everyone’s home, created an election app for mobile devices, uploaded video from candidate forums, and operated a call centre to field questions.

But Mensah said it may be time for bolder moves to make the voting process easier, including the introduction of online voting to entice more younger voters. He said there should also be a discussion about whether to introduce political parties at the municipal level.

“Parties bring to bear a greater level of organizational resources to be able to get out the vote,” he said. “Individual candidates at the municipal level are limited by lack of financial and human resources to mobilize to the same degree.”

Edey said the city has studied online voting and even conducted a test “jelly bean election,” but councillors decided earlier this year that they were not comfortable enough with the technology.

“I think we will reconsider it for four years from now, because the word changes in four years,” he said, noting Sudbury and other municipalities are planning to try Internet ballots.